Unseen Moments
by Iridescent Snowflake
Summary: Glimpses of little bits in the movie that we missed. One-shots.
1. Broken Trust

North watched the wide-eyed matryoshka doll fall from Jack's hand. It hit the ground with a soft thud, its back to Jack as he flew off.

He flew, and he never looked back.

How could he do this? Teaming up with Pitch, gaining his precious memories at the cost of the only mini tooth fairy they had managed to save. The memory box in his hand was a dead giveaway to what he had done. But what was even more unforgivable was the fact that he left them weak, vulnerable and on their own to battle the fearlings when he made a vow to come back. Yes, he came in the end, but he didn't come back as soon as he promised .

North cringed as the flashback started. It had been so peaceful as they watched the radiantly colored eggs trotting through the tunnels on their funny-looking feet. Everything had been perfect. They were certain that Easter would turn things around. The children would be protected from fear, and more importantly, from Pitch.

It was then when they heard the unmistakable neigh that filled them with immediate dread.

They just barged in, those merciless fearlings, leaving crushed eggs and baskets in their wake. There were hundreds of them flying and galloping around the Warren like bees in a beehive. North and Tooth had managed to recover quickly from their shock and spring into action, slaying the horses in a blur of swords and wings.

After a while, North realized that their furry yet trusty partner was not fighting alongside them. He turned — slicing another nightmare in the process — and what he saw next broke his heart.

Bunny looked completely wrecked. His jaw was open, and he took deep, shuddering breaths. His normally erect ears flopped onto his face, nearly but not quite covering his wide, crestfallen eyes. Those eyes tuned out the rest of the world, focusing only on the brightly colored remains of the eggs. Those eggs he painstakingly painted for a year, all for the children of the world he loved bringing hope to. It was obvious that the crushed Easter eggs had crushed the Guardian of Hope as well.

North rushed over to Bunny, partly because he wanted to comfort his old friend, but mostly because there was a fearling galloping straight towards him. North yelled out his name, but even that didn't seem to snap him out of his trance.

North stepped on a flat rock and leapt over Bunny, his arms raised over his head, the sword glinting in the blazing sunlight. He brought it down on the nightmare with a sharp "Hah!" ,the blade penetrating the black sand monster in one swift motion. Bunny hadn't even blinked when the horse disintegrated before his eyes.

North grabbed Bunny by his shoulder and ran behind Tooth, heading for the exit tunnel.

-X-

Bunny came to his senses just in time when he caught sight of a lone Easter basket near the tunnel furthest away from him. Without thinking, he made a run for it, despite the protests of "Bunny! Come back!"

He dove to the ground and scooped up the basket, relief filling his system. That relief was short-lived when he looked up and found a fearling right in front of him, with a piercing amber glare that bore through his very soul.

It tried to snatch the basket with its teeth, and that's when Bunny lost it.

"Get your freaking chompers—off—my—basket!"

He snagged a couple of explosive eggs from his leather holster and flung them at the nightmarish creature, then pulled out both his boomerangs and sliced it blindly. His vision blurred with rage, and he shut his eyes tight and attacked some more, now regardless of whether he killed the fearling or not.

By the time he opened his eyes again, he found tons of black sand scattered on the floor. Apparently, he had killed many more than one nightmare in his agitation. But there were still more rampaging around the disheveled oasis that was once his Warren. Only Jack could have defeated them all. Problem was, he wasn't there to.

Bunny pulled Tooth and North closer to him and opened up a tunnel, taking a deep breath before leaving the chaotic sounds of neighing and crunching behind.

-X-

Ruined.

All ruined.

The eggs.

Easter.

The children's belief in the Guardians.

The children's belief in him.

The normally calm and collected Pooka could only think: _No Easter. No hope. Children, disappointed,_

He was completely lost in a dark world, a black hole where he felt there was no promise in escaping.

Sure, he was furious at Pitch, but even more so at someone else. Someone he had just begun to respect and trust after nearly a century of extreme dislike toward him. Now, he felt betrayed. They should never have trusted that_ traitor._

_Traitor. Jack, you traitor._

**A/N:**

**So I'll just be honest to myself here, the ending is terrible. Well, it's still the best one I can come up with on a tiny phone keypad during a three-hour road trip. I'm pretty proud of myself for not getting carsick, actually.**

**So what do you guys think of this story? Please tell me in your reviews!**


	2. Afraid of the Dark?

They wandered around Pitch's lair.

Baby Tooth knew it as soon as she saw the sinister entrance. Who else hides under beds, in the dark? She tried to warn Jack, pulled on his hood even, but he was too fascinated by… something. He asked her if she heard anything, but she caught no sounds besides the rustling of the leaves in the wind. Yet Jack had that faraway look in his eyes, the same look a child has when he or she recalls a precious, long-forgotten memory. He leapt down the hole without another thought.

Well, what choice did she have other than following him into what she knew was a trap?

Now, Baby Tooth flitted about the dark, cavernous space that had shadows lurking around everywhere. She kept close to Jack when the memory of the nightmares' attack on the Tooth Palace started to haunt her. The dark was scary, yet hypnotic and fascinating at the same time. It started to crawl into her mind, shooing away her other thoughts, but not succeeding in driving out the urge to get Jack and herself out of here. She tried everything to convince him, but he was adamant on leaving.

How could a person with such perfect teeth be so stubborn? Baby Tooth groaned inwardly.

"Baby Tooth!" Jack responded to her squeaks of protest. "Baby Tooth, come on! I have to find out what that is…" He broke off when he moved his gaze from her. She followed his line of sight, and what she saw next knocked every wisp of air out of her.

Cages. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them. Suspended in the air, containing every single one of her sisters. Their looks of misery changed into hope when they spotted them. Their squeaks for help and whirring wings reverberated throughout the room, scaring Baby Tooth for a moment. Would the sudden racket alert their presence to Pitch?

Apparently Jack had the same idea, because he flew up to them, begging them to stay quiet. Baby Tooth followed, stopping at each cage she passed to make sure her sisters were okay.

"Shh, keep it down!" Jack told the imprisoned mini fairies. "I'll get you out as soon as…" His head suddenly jerked up, drawn to the same sound that brought them here, Baby Tooth was certain. She just kept on checking up on her sisters, for fear that at least one was injured. She couldn't relax until she was fairly sure that they were all alright. She didn't notice that Jack dropped to the ground until she heard a loud, metallic crash.

Baby Tooth got shocked out of her senses for a moment, which was really saying something. She cast her eyes upon the ground, discovering an ocean of golden teeth containers gleaming despite the extreme lack of light. She wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. She also spotted Jack rummaging for something among millions of memory boxes containing teeth. He picked up each and every one frantically before tossing them aside, causing a metal on metal clatter that rebounded around the space.

The dark, the commotion and the sight of her encaged sisters were putting the little sprite on edge. She glanced around nervously, looking for any signs of Pitch or his fearful minions. She couldn't decide if she was relieved or horrified that neither was to be seen at the moment.

Just then, a chill settled on her, worse, deadlier than mild frostiness Jack brings.

"Looking for something?"

Jack reacted instantly, blasting ice in the direction of the voice. When he missed the looming shadow of the Boogeyman, he chased after him in hot pursuit, anger evident on his features. Baby Tooth automatically went after Jack despite her terror of Pitch.

She heard urgent twitters just before she passed one of the smaller, Victorian-style cages hanging a mile above the ground. One of her sisters was shaking the metal bars desperately to get her attention, and when she earned it, she moved to the side, gesturing behind her. It was only then when Baby Tooth noticed that her closest friend was lying on the metal floor of the cage, wings no longer beating, among a nauseating number of fallen feathers in green, blue and gold.

It took Baby Tooth just a second to realize what was happening. All of the mini fairies had a special affection for the children, but that particular fairy loved them with all her heart. She was always volunteering to collect extra teeth, always taking up both teeth collecting and coin delivery duties, always staying at the children's' bedrooms for long periods of time when she could get away with it, just watching them in their sleeping peacefully. When their belief in the Tooth Fairy started to fade, it affected the majority of the little fairies slightly, but it absolutely crushed the loving soul, not only physically but deep inside as well. Her usually sparkling turquoise eyes which were a rarity among them were squeezed shut. Clear tears dripped down from them onto the ground, where a small pool of tears sparkled.

Baby Tooth wasn't just scared now; she was furious. _Pitch did this, _she thought. He took everything - their believers, their lives of content. He was so merciless, he couldn't even spare one sprite's happiness. The fury bubbling up inside her burst into determination to bust them all out of here. She didn't care that she was too small to make a difference; she was so overwhelmed with bitterness that made her lose her wits for a while.

She thought of using her long, thin beak to pick the lock, but a look around the circumference of the cage told her there was none. She tried to pull the bars open to form a large enough gap, but it was futile. Finally, as a last resort, Baby Tooth slammed into the cage, going mad with pain and anger. All her sisters were alarmed and pleaded with her to stop, but the ever hard-headed mini-fairy just kept on bumping into the metal, over and over again, almost knocking herself unconscious.

Suddenly, the eyes of her sisters in the cage widened even further, now looking like haunted prey. Even her weak friend gave a little squeal of warning. Baby Tooth thought they were shocked at her crazy, useless efforts to break the cage to pieces, but if her mind, vision and hearing were clearer, she would have noticed that they were pointing behind her, calling out that there was danger.

A string of thoughts ran through her mind as she struggled to hold on to the last tendrils of consciousness, clear and loud against her blurry world.

_Danger? What danger? We lost our home. You are all trapped inside these nightmarish prisons for who knows how long. My best friend is dying. The children don't believe in us anymore. How could it get any worse? _

Just before she passed out, she turned and found a mess of swirling dark sand and pale gold eyes heading straight for her.

**A/N:**

**Whoa I just wrote something really angsty.**

**I might need some more ideas for these one-shots. Are there any unshown parts of the movie you would like to read about? You can tell me via reviews or PMs. Don't worry Jokermask18, I'm currently working on your suggestion, but it could be coming out a tad bit later.**

**Till next time!**


	3. A Grudge

"Jack Frost is many things, but he is not a Guardian."

A veil of silence settled on the four legendary figures for a few seconds, soon broken by the tentative voice of Tooth. "Bunny, that blizzard that Jack started… was it that bad?"

Bunny snorted. "Bad? Was it _bad? _It was on an Easter Sunday, Tooth! The snow on the ground was so deep, I couldn't even open up a tunnel without snow falling in and filling it up completely! And the eggs! Where was I supposed to hide them? Besides, the kids are too smart to go searching for them in that freak snowstorm." He shook his head disdainfully, exhaling through his nostrils. Apparently the memory and the aggravation he had felt that year were still quite fresh. "Furthermore, who wants cold and death on a day that represents birth and spring, anyway?"

North was quiet for a few beats before tearing his gaze away from the moon crystal and the hooded, nearly transparent hologram of the spirit in question. "Bunny, that was decades ago. Give him a chance. Manny, he doesn't fool around. He knows what he's doing." He glanced at the bright full moon above them knowingly, memories of all they went through warming him up like hot chocolate. "He always does."

North could tell that he smiled back when the rays that illuminated the moon crystal shone even more brilliantly.

Bunny pretended to think. "Give him a chance, you say? Maybe I will, when his hair turns green and daisies start to sprout from his head," he said in a scornful tone. "Seriously, though, that troublemaker is annoying. If he flashes that blinding, maddening grin of his again, I swear I'll—"

Tooth snapped to attention instantaneously. "Did you just say his grin was blinding?"

Bunny was just about to say, "And maddening too," but that chance was taken away from him when Tooth zipped over to him and grabbed his paws. She jiggled them while bouncing up and down in mid-air. "You said that, right? A blinding grin means blinding teeth, doesn't it? How white are they? Are they still as bright as you say?" Tooth's feathers ruffled alarmingly fast as her words tumbled out at the same speed. She had let go of Bunny's paws by now, clapping and squealing. Even the mini-fairies were spinning around like hyper-caffeinated hummingbirds. "Oh gosh, I can't wait to meet him in person! Do you think he flosses? Or are they naturally like that? How…"

Bunny threw a heavy-lidded look at Sandy, knowing he would understand. Sure enough, Sandy nodded. He then puffed a cloud of dreamsand at Tooth, just enough to make her drowsy and interrupt her own rambling with a yawn.

Bunny jumped right in. "Just so you know, Tooth, his teeth are incredibly white. But I have no idea how he kept them that way, and I would never want to know either."

"And as for the case of forgiving that little gnat, I say, never." Bunny crossed his arms, and set his face hard, looking like a rigid, defiant boulder.

North wasn't confident that he could convince the seemingly impenetrable statue. But he still had to try anyway. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to give Bunny what he knew would be a very long lecture.

-X-

It took a lot of persuading by North.

And some pleading on Tooth's part.

But in the end, what made Bunny begrudgingly give in was Sandy's assurance that they would kick Jack out of the Pole the moment he causes trouble of any sort, and the solid fact that the Man in the Moon would never choose Jack as a Guardian if he didn't have something of worth inside him to help them defeat Pitch. North chuckled. "Manny's belly is as trustworthy as mine, Bunny. There is nothing to fear."

"We'll see about that," Bunny muttered, as he reluctantly pushed aside the rest of his disagreements far away the tip of his tongue. To distract himself from the unpleasant thought of working with a despised nemesis in a matter of hours, he resumed painting the egg in his paw with gentle brushstrokes.

North caught his breath. For such a tiny object, the egg in Bunny's hand was one of the most beautiful things he ever saw, ranking somewhere in between the Tooth Palace and the world's largest Christmas tree. While the majority of eggs were painted in pastel colors like cool mint or pink like a newborn's skin, this egg was a masterpiece of yellow, green, pink, purple and brown hues. He blinked, and the swirls turned into a picture of spring, a scene of the sun, grass, earth and flowers, oh so many flowers. When he squinted, he could just make out some little children playing in the background, chains weaved out of daisies dangling from their fingers. It was almost impossible how Bunny had managed to fit all this onto the teeny surface of the egg, but then again, the Guardian of Hope had done many impossible things before. He could also tell that Tooth and Sandy were entranced by this magical egg by the fact that he could barely hear any sounds of breathing.

Bunny looked up, catching all of them staring at the egg he was so engrossed in beautifying. "You see mates, this is the exact image of spring. Happiness, freedom, and tons of life. And I don't want Jack Frost messing any of that up. So do me a favor: keep Jack away from wrecking Easter, and I'll… tolerate him as best as I can."

He glanced back at his egg while talking, the last bit of his sentence getting fainter, and the look on his face melted into softness. North clapped a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"We promise."

**A/N:**

**All I can say is, I had a fun time describing Tooth being all fangirly over Jack's teeth even before they met.**


	4. When The Lights Go Out

Phil stood at the control station of Santoff Claussen, watching the yetis do their jobs from the highest point of the workshop. From his see-through glass booth with a see-through floor (Phil was a yeti with nerves of steel), he could see every little movement happening down below.

There was his cousin, Paul, who was just starting to paint an army of toy robots blue.

There was Bob, the newbie, trying to learn how to assemble parts of a model airplane.

There were the elves, who were found skittering around in every corner of Santoff Claussen - handing out refreshments to the yetis, testing some toys out to see if they are safe for children, and trying to sneak away with food.

It was a normal work day, and everything was moving at the usual pace - hurried and fast, so no child on the nice list would have to spend the next Christmas without a present.

At least, it was normal _so_ _far_.

The unexpected began for Phil when there was a sudden exclamation among the yetis. They all turned their heads simultaneously, with shocked, disbelieving reactions, some pointing to the center of the room. Phil tensed. A bad feeling crept up on him, like the time a toy snake had realistically slithered up his fur.

Standing dead center, at the heart if Santoff Claussen, was the globe. The lights were flickering and going out, like little flames on birthday candles when a child blows them out.

Phil was used to seeing a large amount of lights going out at once. Every child had to grow up at some point in their life, and start to depend on themselves instead of the Guardians. They had to take care of their own hopes, dreams, and memories. But _this…_ Phil couldn't even imagine how it is possible that so many children could stop believing at once. His gut told him it wasn't a growing-up problem.

As every second ticked by, more and more lights disappeared, until nearly a quarter were gone.

Naturally, all the yetis in the room turned to Phil. He understood even though no one grunted a thing. He turned and raced towards the personal workspace of the one man who knew what to do under these circumstances, dodging a few panicked elves on the way.

When he got to the mahogany double doors, he slammed them open. Only when he heard the unmistakable sound of ice shattering behind the door did he remember that he had forgotten something vital.

The usually jolly man behind the desk didn't look so jolly as he choked out something that wasn't English or Russian, or even human. Phil gasped too as he realized the trouble that he got himself into.

The man pinched the skin between his eyes and sighed, as if he was used to this sort of thing happening already. Phil could only think how even more upset and worried he'll be when he gets the bad news.

North, the Guardian of Wonder, and one of the few legends who can fix this problem turned to Phil and bellowed, "How many times have I told you to knock?!'

**A/N:**

**I don't really like how I made this story end, but you have to admit that that last sentence is one of the funniest in the movie. And Phil's facial expressions. They're. Just. Priceless. **


	5. Not-So-Minor Problems

"Before we begin, are you quite sure that you remember the entire fanfare?" North said to the quartet of elves, who were each clutching a gleaming, silver instrument in their hands. They all nodded eagerly. The elf with the cymbals looked like he couldn't wait to start smashing them together.

"Alright then. Music!" North said the last word in his usual dramatic way, then put on a smile and leaned forward.

The elves began the fanfare. North's smile slipped right of his face.

The word "unorganized" didn't even begin to cover it. "Noisy" and "unpleasantly eardrum-splitting" were more suitable adjectives to describe the… cacophony the elves produced. The elf with the cymbals bashed them together happily at random times, heedless of the music's rhythm. The elf playing the drums couldn't stop jiggling and moving about, adding excessive jingling to the noise. As for the elves with the sousaphone and horn, they blew on their instruments with way too much force.

The result sounded more like an elephant being tortured than a ceremonious fanfare.

North held up both his gigantic palms, gesturing and pleading with his eyes for the elves to stop. He knew it was useless to shout, since nothing else could possibly be heard above the racket. When they lowered their instruments, disappointed, North said with an uncertain smile: "That was… slightly flawed. Please refresh my memory, um, when was the last time you practiced this?"

The elf with the horn appeared to be calculating something mentally. He raised five fingers.

"Five years?"

The elf shook his head.

"Fifty?"

Same response from the elf.

"Five hundred?" North said weakly. The elf snapped his fingers.

North sighed and put his hand to his forehead. There was just no need for a ceremony preparation then. He had always thought that Tooth, Sandy, Bunnymund and he were to remain the only Guardians forever, so he sort of… neglected the need to prepare for such a ritual.

"Phil." He called out, leaving him in charge of working on the elves' rusty performance. He then moved on to another larger group consisting of both elves and yetis, who were going to march and perform upon Jack Frost's arrival. North couldn't help feeling excited by this. The yetis were to do tricks with fire, while the elves will do the marching around, the only thing they can do that without the risk of causing much destruction.

"Now" - North rubbed his hands together in anticipation - "let's see what you've got, eh?"

He was relieved to see that the elves and yetis at least got the basic plan. The elves marched in a large circle, surrounding the spot where the spirit of honor will be standing. The duo of yetis swung and twirled their fire staffs around with impressive speed and skill. At one point, they even threw their staffs high up in the air, then caught them again and resumed spinning them around with fluid movements. North was impressed. He never knew his yetis were that multitalented.

North then turned another pair of yetis standing on either side of him. They both had party poppers in their hands, the kind that explodes into a shower of multicolored confetti. "Now remember," North told them, "just before the shoes are presented to Jack Frost, you will put these to use. Also, keep in mind that_—_ " North wanted to tell them that those two party poppers were the only ones in Santoff Claussen, since they didn't have enough confetti left in the workshop inventory. But he trailed off in shock when he noticed the elves scrambling into the room, carrying a wooden tray with a pair of blue shoes on it. To be more accurate, the elves were carrying a wooden tray with a pair of _blue flip-flops _on it.

North just had time to exclaim: "What the_—_" before he heard the loud _BANG!_ of a party popper going off. "No, wait—" he tried to tell the yetis, but was answered with another explosion. Shimmery pink, blue, green and yellow flakes rained down on his "Are-you-kidding-me" face.

North sighed again, then instructed the yetis to pick up every last bit of confetti lying on the floor and fill two baskets up with them. It seemed that they were going to be showering Jack Frost with confetti the old-fashioned way. Then, he turned to the elves.

"What" — North gestured to the flip-flops — "are these? What happened to the right pair?" A stone-grey yeti to his left whispered something in his ear. "There never was one?"

"Mm," the yeti grunted.

North stopped himself from sighing again, and instead rubbed his temples. "Then, go make a new pair! We couldn't just give Jack Frost a pair of shabby slippers as a token! Hurry up, we don't have much time!" He shooed the yeti off, who didn't seem to like to unfriendly dismissal.

When he spun around to walk in the other direction, he almost slammed face-to-face with another breathless yeti. Gasping for air, he presented a lei made of pink, white and blue plastic snowflakes in his furry, dark brown palms. Another token for the Great Soon-To-Be Guardian.

"Well, thank you." North accepted the lei and scrutinized it. The glossy surface of the snowflakes shimmered in the light, although North couldn't imagine Jack Frost wearing it around his neck. Tooth silently popped up from behind North and said, "Oh, that is one pretty necklace," nearly making North's belly drop.

"Toothie, will you please stop sneaking up on me so suddenly?" said North once he recovered his wits. "And it is not a necklace; 'tis a lei of great honor, to be given as a gift to Jack Frost!" The mini-fairies at Tooth's side perked up at the mention of Jack's name.

"Oh, oh, can my fairies do the honors?" Tooth asked excitedly, her cheeks turning rosy ever so slightly . Her little hummingbird-sized fairies nodded enthusiastically, all staring at North with glassy puppy-eyes. North said half-heartedly, "Why ever not?" before half a dozen bird-like creatures attacked him by hugging his red velvety sleeves affectionately.

Tooth chuckled. "I think they mean to say thank you." She then fluttered off, her mini-fairies detaching themselves from North and following suit.

All of a sudden, North heard loud yelps and grunts behind him, accompanied by hints of smoke in the air. Apparently one of the fire staff-bearing yetis had let down his guard for a moment, and accidentally set the point of an elf's head on fire. The elf panicked. It ran around helplessly in circles, squeaking in terror as his kind looked on in frozen shock, before a calm and collected Phil gripped his cone-shaped body and dunked him in a large punch bowl filled with water on a nearby table. There was a sizzle, a hiss, and the flame went out. The elf sighed in relief underwater, releasing a stream of tiny air bubbles.

North buried his face in his palms, allowing himself to exhale dispiritedly.

Obviously there was a lot of work to be done before the winter spirit arrived.

**A/N:**

…

**So sorry if this is boring. I was feeling really uninspired but I pushed myself to finish writing and deliver this into y'all's hands, so… there ya go.**

**Oh yeah, and this is going to be a two-parter.**


	6. Discussions

North rehearsed the oath for the thousandth time, wanting to make sure that every word sounds perfect. New Guardians don't get chosen every day, after all.

"Will _you,_ Jack Frost, _vow _to watch over the _children _of the _world, _to guard them with your _life_ their _hopes_ and _wishes _and their _dreams…_" With every word, his hand gestures got more and more dramatic. Well, as dramatic as he could manage while holding a fifty pound book in his hands.

"For they are _all that we have, all that we are_―_" _North was getting more and more worked up, swinging his free arm in wide arcs and over-enunciating every word― "… and _all that we will EVER_―"

"Whoa!" a voice behind him yelled. "Watch the egg, mate! What's with all the expression?" Bunny hopped out from behind North's frozen, outstretched arm. "You almost slammed me!"

"Oops, pardon me, Bunny. I guess I got too carried away," North chuckled uncomfortably. He stopped when Bunnymund shoved the egg in front of his face. "Say sorry to it," he demanded.

North almost let out a huge belly laugh before he saw the deadly, no-nonsense look on Bunny's face. "You do not mean it… do you?"

"Hey, my eggs are alive, mate. They have feelings. This one's probably scared so much it nearly cracked itself open!" As if to prove his point, the egg in his paw sprouted legs and kicked wildly about.

"Um…" North scratched his beard for a while, wondering if he should point out that it might not hear him anyway, but decided against it. "My sincerest apologies, dear little egg."

As if satisfied, the stubby legs shrunk and vanished, appearing to be a normal, colorful egg once again.

"Alright then. I can't risk having you swing your arms around like a madman again, so set down the book and let me ask you one question: How on earth are we going to get Frost here?"

Tooth and Sandy turned their heads when he said this, and nodded questioningly at North.

"No worries, plan all figured out!" North patted his chest reassuringly. "Well, first we, um, send yetis, to, er, get him from, well, where he lives…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"Hang on. Are you saying you don't have any idea how to get him here?" Bunny looked at him disbelievingly.

"Um, no."

Bunny sighed. "I refuse to comment on that."

And so began the discussions. Tooth eagerly volunteered to fetch Jack Frost herself, but North's reliable instincts (otherwise known as his belly) told him that she might spend hours fawning over the guest's teeth and lose track of time. Sandy, on the other hand, suggested knocking him unconscious with one of his dreamsand shuttlecocks. He demonstrated his idea with a dreamsand racket and shuttlecock, but conked a nearby elf on the head, delivering him into a dreamy world of dancing gingerbread men. Bunny liked the idea, but hinted that he would rather Jack get hit with a rock.

Of all the ideas he could think of, North came up with transporting Jack Frost to the Pole via snowglobe… and a battered sack he used to fill with presents. The others, especially Bunny who hoped that the Frost kid was claustrophobic, agreed.

North then asked a question that brought an end to Bunnymund's snickering: "So Bunny, you will be the one who will accompany Jack Frost on his way to the Pole?"

"Of course not! It was your idea, why should I be the one to escort the brat?"

"Well, I will be busy preparing elves and yetis for ceremony, Sandy will be busy bringing dreams to children…"

"Hey, I can go! I'm quite free!"

"No, Tooth," North said firmly. He stated to Bunny: "You are the fastest and most agile of all of us, Bunny. And you know him more than we do. You could strike up conversation with him, have a little talk about past misunderstandings…"

"More like an all-out verbal war."

"Please Bunny, just this once. And you won't have to do much, just lead him to a spot where yetis can catch him."

"And stuff him in the sack," Bunny finished. "Okay, I'll have a little talk with him, but once he's in the bag, it's done. Over. Mission accomplished."

"Yes." North was relieved that the hardest part was over. One more thing to settle… "Bunny, by any chance, do you happen to know where Jack can be found at this time of day?"

Bunny pondered for a while, then said, "Burgess. He seems to mess around there most of the time."

"Then Burgess it is." Whistling to a couple of yetis, North pulled a snowglobe out of his pocket and watched the snowy landscape inside transform into a wintery, cozy-looking town.

"Stand back," he said to Tooth and Sandy. When the two yetis arrived, he handed them a sack and said, "You know what to do." They grunted in understanding.

North turned to Bunny and said, "Good luck," before smashing the snowglobe at his feet. Because he was looking at the ground at the moment, he just missed the look of horror on the Easter Bunny's face. He had just enough time to say: "_NO -"_

Bunnymund finished his sentence with "-_SNOWGLOOOOOOOBES!" _as he got sucked into the swirling vortex with the two yetis.

"Oops," North winced when the portal closed, "I forgot."

**A/N:**

**Happy Easter, my dear readers! **

**As promised, here's the continuation of the previous chapter, **_**Not-So-Minor Problems.**_** Hope you enjoyed reading and please review.**

**Once again, Happy Easter, happy egg-hunting, and happy chocolate-eating!**


	7. Weakening

"So what now?" North's voice was hollow as he set his gaze on the fallen matryoshka doll. Its freakishly huge and sky blue eyes were smiling, which was quite the opposite of what North's own defeated eyes showed. Tooth sighed, turning slowly to face North. Her eyes were on the ground when she said, "I don't know. Back to the Pole, I guess."

"For what?" Bunny spoke up for the first time since Jack left. He scraped a small spot of paint off an egg, causing small flakes to flutter onto the grass. "The children don't believe in the Easter Bunny anymore. Now that Sandy's dead, they don't have dreams, just nightmares. And the fairies can't collect the teeth. It's only a matter of time before we're gone." North and Tooth glanced at each other, wondering whether if Bunny talking again was a good sign or a bad one.

Tooth said: "Still, we can't do anything if we stay here. We need to do something - _anything -_ we can't let Pitch win just like that."

"He _already _won!" Bunny whirled around and smashed his fist into a tree trunk. North and Tooth jumped a little. "Don't you see? Fear is taking over the world now, there are no dreams or wonder anymore! None! Left!"

At that moment, Tooth snapped. "E. Aster Bunnymund, look here!" said Tooth sharply as she grabbed his furry shoulders and spun him around. The noisy whirring of her wings, her raised voice and her sudden closeness to him was enough to make Bunny show some expression on his stony face. "Think of the children! Think of them! We are the Guardians for a reason. They deserve a better life, a life with hope and dreams and wonder, a life which Pitch can never give in a million years! We are the ones who shape their childhood into a perfect one, because it is our duty, and because we love them! Don't be selfish because some children can't see you. What about Sandy, huh? What about me? You are not the only one suffering here, mister, so I suggest you put yourself together, and prepare to fight Pitch no matter what it takes!" She stopped for a moment to draw some oxygen into her desperate lungs.

Bunny was silent, apparently trying to digest Tooth's words. She was worried that he would just pulverize the egg and say that he was just going to hide in the Warren and nibble half-heartedly at his carrots for the remainder of his life, but he just nodded.

"You're right, Tooth." He stood up determinedly. "This is for Sandy. Pitch should pay for doing this to him - and the kids."

North clapped him on the back. "That's the spirit."

"One request, though."

North raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be, my dear Bunny?"

"No snowglobes this time. We're going back to the Pole via tunnel." Before North could argue, Bunny thumped his foot on the ground and leaped into a small hole, only big enough to fit one of them at a time.

Tooth looked at North and shrugged. Without a word, she folded her wings and dived into the tunnel. She didn't know what complaint North uttered before literally taking the plunge, but she sure could hear his constant yells of terror as he slid down the burrow like it was an endless water slide.

The only thing she didn't notice was the nightmare silently galloping away after the entrance to the tunnel closed.

-X-

An opening appeared, and Tooth exited the tunnel gracefully. She couldn't say the same for North who landed on the floor belly-first.

"Ouch," muttered North.

Bunny ignored him and walked towards the globe. As Tooth helped North up, she counted the depressing number of lights on the globe - one from England, five from the United States.

Six altogether. A few days ago, there were millions of believers, but now only six left. Tooth couldn't believe it. Pitch was actually winning.

"Holy jumping candy canes, this is worse than I thought," North murmured as he clomped forward while clutching his belly. Just then, the slightest movement caught Tooth's eye. Something black just zoomed behind the globe.

She didn't have time to think. She yanked Bunny and North back, and crammed them both into an empty cupboard before diving in herself.

Bunny started to protest. "Hey -"

"Shush."

Just in time. Tooth could hear the loud rustles of moving sand, and a gust of wind squeezed its way through the crack of the cupboard. Pitch's evil cackle sounded throughout the massive room.

North gasped. "Pitch is here!"

"Duh, you dumbbell. Any other things I already know?" That came from Bunny, whose face was slightly squashed by North's boot.

"Other than the fact that your disgustingly fuzzy ear is tickling my nose?" As if to prove his point, North sneezed.

Tooth couldn't make out what Pitch was saying over their bickering, so she told the guys to put a cork in it. That shut them up, aside from North's occasional sniffles.

Tooth opened the door slightly and watched the scene through the crack. " - six precious children who believe in the Guardians with all their hearts - "

Then he smothered a light under his foot. "Make that, five."

Tooth gasped. Somehow she could tell that the child, whoever he was, just woke up and found his tooth still underneath his pillow.

"Four!"

A ten-year-old lost a piece of his childhood memory.

"Three!"

A little girl threw her Easter basket to the ground.

"Two!'

Two young boys are plagued by nightmares.

Pitch raised his fingers and snapped them. Tooth shut her eyes, waiting for it to happen. _I love the children of the world. I hope their most precious memories will still be preserved even without me. I hope they will be safe and will learn to fight fear. I love them._ These thoughts ran through her mind in less than a second. She could hear Bunny and North drawing a deep, sad breath. At that moment, they were all certain it would be their last.

But then Pitch snapped his fingers again. And again. And again.

"Bah." Tooth opened her eyes in amazement, and glanced out to see Pitch glaring at a lone bright light.

"One."

If it wasn't for her photographic memory, Tooth would never have remembered the day all the Guardians participated in teeth-collecting, the night she and Jack shared their thoughts about the children, the house where Jamie caught them in the beam of his flashlight.

She was certain Jamie Bennett was the last light.

-X-

"C'mon, we don't have much time left! Jamie might stop believing at any moment!" Tooth rushed them all to the 'garage', where North's sleigh was. They hopped in, and North guided the reindeer away from the Pole immediately.

When they were in midair, Tooth exhaled in temporary relief. She had really thought that they were going to perish on the spot.

And that was when a clump of feathers detatched themselves from her body.

Bunny noticed. "Tooth, you're - "

Tooth cut him off, but her eyes gave herself away. "It's nothing. It - it had to happen sooner or later. Thank goodness I'm the only one."

"Argh! My back hurts!" groaned North from his seat.

"Okay, maybe I spoke too soon. Go faster, we're almost there!" Tooth urged.

North winced a little more as he lashed the reins. Tooth tried to fly to his aid, but almost immediately she hit the ground. She couldn't feel her wings anymore.

Bunny righted her, saying: "Whoa, mate. You don't want to make any more sudden moves in that condition."

"It's happening," Tooth croaked. North grunted in approval.

"But why isn't anything happening to me?" Bunny questioned, confusion clouding his green eyes.

"I don't know. Just hold on until we get to Jamie's house, alright?"

"Can do." Bunny plonked himself onto the seat.

Tooth looked out of the sleigh. It was evening, and they were approaching Pennsylvania. They were fast, but the reindeer slowed and stumbled every few seconds. Their magic must have gone wrong too.

When she turned to discuss her observations with Bunny, she didn't see him.

"Bunny?" Tooth called out in a panic. "Where are you?"

"Down - down here."

Tooth looked down and nearly passed out. A small, cuddly bunny was at her feet, wearing the same confused expression Bunnymund was wearing a moment ago.

A chill wrapped around Tooth. "Bunny, is that - "

"Yes," said the powder gray rabbit miserably. It hopped onto Tooth's lap looking very sorry for it - himself.

Tooth called out: "North, we've got a situation."

"I'm driving, Sweet Tooth! Can we talk after this?"

"North, this is important -"

"I'm losing control over the sleigh here! Maybe later?"

"It's serious!"

"This is serious as well!"

"It's Bunny!"

That got North's attention. He whipped around, dismayed to see the little rabbit curled up in Tooth's arms. "Bozhe moi," whispered North.

Maybe it was a bad idea for Tooth to distract him at that moment, because they were heading straight for a brick house. When North turned, he exclaimed "Whoa!" before yanking on the reins.

Too late. Part of the sleigh hit the side of the house, and they went crashing down.

Just before they hit the ground, though, Tooth caught a glimpse of Jack with a young boy running towards them, and a glimmer of hope sparked in her chest.

**A/N:**

**This was a request from ****Jokermask18.**** Thanks for the great suggestion, buddy!**

**I barely stopped to blink when writing this story, and now my eyes hurt. Lesson learnt: Close your eyes every few minutes or you'll get blind sooner or later. Or at least wear sunglasses.**


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